Jerry Lewis: “as we begin our work in the new year, I want to take a few moments to reflect on the passing of a good friend of mine.…”

“as we begin our work in the new year, I want to take a few moments to reflect on the passing of a good friend of mine. Richard Henry ``Dick'' White, Jr., a fixture in Washington for four decades, lost his fight against cancer on December 21, and his death took a whole lot of sunshine from the world. Like many who came to Washington, Dick White expected to stay in Washington for a very short period of time. A 1955 journalism graduate of the University of Oklahoma, Dick arrived here in 1965 as a correspondent for the Tulsa Tribune. But rather than return home, he moved to public service, and that work caused him to become a congressional staff member over the next 14 years. He was the top staffer for Ed Edmonson of Oklahoma and Dale Milford of Texas. He left the Hill in the late 1970s to serve as Washington representative on a number of farm-related issues. He later served as the vice president for the Tobacco Institute, and most recently maintained a small public affairs consulting business. Mr. Speaker, it has regrettably become vogue in politics to suggest that lobbying, that is, representing the American people in Washington, is less than an honorable profession. Well, anyone who knew Dick White would strongly disagree. He represented his clients, small businesses, tens of thousands of farmers, hundreds of thousands of workers, with integrity, humanity and a wealth of knowledge.”